[Mideast + Africa] Getting rid of Bongo- but at what Brice?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [Mideast + Africa] Getting rid of Bongo- but at what Brice?

guidoanselmi: Feb 6, 2008; I thought my ideas were so clear. I wanted to make an honest post. No lies whatsoever.

Professorjuggalo posted:

https://twitter.com/_will_brown/status/1299954362261921792?s=21

You'd think they could put them up in the Four Seasons? MBS should have a lot of loyalty points after keeping his family and friendly interrogators there for months.

# ? Sep 3, 2020 19:00

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 06:02

comedyblissoption: Mar 15, 2006

Jose posted:

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1301318392918482946?s=19

# ? Sep 4, 2020 07:22

lumpentroll: Mar 4, 2020

https://twitter.com/PaoloStefanini5/status/1302233149074792450

# ? Sep 5, 2020 19:49

Dreylad: Jun 19, 2001

Atrocious Joe posted:

https://twitter.com/bellingcat/status/1297886031497302024?s=20
New job opening if you are passionate about justifying NATO interventions

sadly my elo in dota 2 was only ever like 3k

# ? Sep 5, 2020 20:09

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

haha on Apple TV+'s scant roster of original shows is an Israeli spy drama about infiltrating Iran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm_vHTy9IYA

# ? Sep 8, 2020 19:59

OhFunny: Jun 26, 2013; EXTREMELY PISSED AT THE DNC

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/united-states-formally-announces-troop-reduction-iraq-200909123333305.html

Further US troop withdrawals from Iraq.

# ? Sep 9, 2020 16:41

orange sky: May 7, 2007

If he withdraws troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and manages to not start a war with anyone I agree with the Nobel nomination

# ? Sep 10, 2020 06:57

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

orange sky posted:

If he withdraws troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and manages to not start a war with anyone I agree with the Nobel nomination

He already deserves one more than Obama did.

# ? Sep 10, 2020 07:06

RadiRoot: Feb 3, 2007

Maximo Roboto posted:

haha on Apple TV+'s scant roster of original shows is an Israeli spy drama about infiltrating Iran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm_vHTy9IYA

that video recommended this... which is worse?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=611fw81BN98

# ? Sep 10, 2020 07:28

OhFunny: Jun 26, 2013; EXTREMELY PISSED AT THE DNC

https://twitter.com/tagabhishek/status/1304008156402479105?s=21

Beirut can�t catch a break.

# ? Sep 10, 2020 12:54

Some Guy TT: Aug 30, 2011

https://twitter.com/JarrettBlanc/status/1304040547447967749?p=v
https://twitter.com/JarrettBlanc/status/1304040551101222914?p=v

# ? Sep 10, 2020 14:16

Zedhe Khoja: Nov 10, 2017; sürgünden selamlar
yıkıcılar ulusuna

Maybe I'll actually get to visit Bamiyan one day.

# ? Sep 10, 2020 14:20

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1304073129078251520?s=20

# ? Sep 11, 2020 05:23

mila kunis: Jun 10, 2011

guidoanselmi posted:

You'd think they could put them up in the Four Seasons? MBS should have a lot of loyalty points after keeping his family and friendly interrogators there for months.

the gulf states have/had so much money and nothing to do with it that it fuelled a massive construction boom/bubble across multiple countries. they have tons of empty buildings just sitting around lol. this is pure cruelty for love of the game

# ? Sep 11, 2020 07:36

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1304464848831631361

# ? Sep 11, 2020 18:37

Grapplejack: Nov 27, 2007

Well the peace talks have officially started for Afghanistan between the government and the Taliban. I assume Trump wants to get the gently caress out so the Taliban have good odds for this one.

# ? Sep 12, 2020 21:08

paul_soccer12: Jan 5, 2020; by Fluffdaddy

Maximo Roboto posted:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1304464848831631361

Happy 9/11!!!!

# ? Sep 12, 2020 21:48

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/1304123664401600513?s=20
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1304809242495512577?s=20

# ? Sep 13, 2020 00:47

gradenko_2000: Oct 5, 2010; HELL SERPENT; Lipstick Apathy

https://twitter.com/YSCouncil/status/1304885291027697664?s=19

# ? Sep 13, 2020 01:11

steinrokkan: Apr 2, 2011; Soiled Meat

Speaking of... anybody have any insight into current Yemeni affairs? Last I heard he country was heading for a doom spiral with covid compounding the existing humanitarian crisis.

# ? Sep 13, 2020 01:21

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

looking forward to right wing Venezuelans using this as proof that Max Blumenthal is an Iranian agent

Also, I saw this, and it's not really news but it's nice to see solidarity
https://twitter.com/Aldanimarki/status/1304808928082112514?s=20

# ? Sep 13, 2020 01:47

steinrokkan: Apr 2, 2011; Soiled Meat

just for context, Hodeidah is the port where the Houthis thwarted a full scale invasion by the UAE and KSA in 2018, basically stalling the "legitimate government's" attempts to reclaim territory in Yemen.

# ? Sep 13, 2020 01:51

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

steinrokkan posted:

Speaking of... anybody have any insight into current Yemeni affairs? Last I heard he country was heading for a doom spiral with covid compounding the existing humanitarian crisis.

literally just stealing this from Radio War Nerd Facebook group

quote:

the generally Shia, Houthi-dominated (and supposedly Iranian supported) Ansarallah continue to do well, and dominate almost all of the well populated western highlands. Saudi Arabia's proxies are in the process of imploding and now control bugger all that isn't empty desert to the east. The UAE backed separatist STC have recently consolidated control of the more populated coastal centres to the south. So winning right now = Houthi, STC, Iran, UAE. Losing = The Saudi aligned Islah party, Saudi Arabia itself and Yemen's general population. Turkey, Israel and some remnants of Al Qaeda and Isis are skulking opportunistically around the edges .

# ? Sep 13, 2020 01:51

steinrokkan: Apr 2, 2011; Soiled Meat

Atrocious Joe posted:

literally just stealing this from Radio War Nerd Facebook group

Wait a minute, this is claiming that the UAE and KSA are not aligned anymore? That would be hilarious if it took place in a context that didn't affect the livelihoods of millions. Anyway, it seems dubious.

I mean, I know that the Southern Yemeni Council is a wildcard faction in the war, but I had no idea they were potentially funded by the UAE and not KSA. Also I feel like Al Quaeda isn't just skulking around as long as KSA is acrive in the region.

steinrokkan has issued a correction as of 01:57 on Sep 13, 2020

# ? Sep 13, 2020 01:55

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

UAE has mostly stopped fighting the Houthi directly last year. and yeah the UAE are the patrons of the southern secessionists

here's a guardian article on the topic laying out the dynamics
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/clashing-uae-and-saudi-interests-are-keeping-the-yemen-conflict-alive

quote:

�What gets underestimated is how high the level of antagonism is between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, particularly when it comes to support for Islah. The personal rapport between [Saudi crown prince] Mohammed bin Salman and [ruler of Abu Dhabi] Mohammed bin Zayed is what keeps the relationship together. If it were left to institutional channels the coalition would collapse.�

# ? Sep 13, 2020 02:02

steinrokkan: Apr 2, 2011; Soiled Meat

That's both hilarious and gut wrenching.

E: I guess it's not hilarious at all, but I can't see geopolitics without toxic ironic detachment anymore. It just doesn't make any sense,

steinrokkan has issued a correction as of 02:09 on Sep 13, 2020

# ? Sep 13, 2020 02:04

cool dance moves: Aug 27, 2018

I also always assumed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were on the same page when it came to local proxies, so it's interesting to learn that they dont like each other at all. Is bin Zayed as much of an idiotic brute as MBS?

# ? Sep 13, 2020 02:33

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

The UAE paid former US special forces to assassinate members of the political party that Saudi Arabia is supporting in Yemen. This was back in 2015 too.

quote:

Cradling an AK-47 and sucking a lollipop, the former American Green Beret bumped along in the back of an armored SUV as it wound through the darkened streets of Aden. Two other commandos on the mission were former Navy SEALs. As elite US special operations fighters, they had years of specialized training by the US military to protect America. But now they were working for a different master: a private US company that had been hired by the United Arab Emirates, a tiny desert monarchy on the Persian Gulf.

On that night, December 29, 2015, their job was to carry out an assassination.

Their armed attack, described to BuzzFeed News by two of its participants and corroborated by drone surveillance footage, was the first operation in a startling for-profit venture. For months in war-torn Yemen, some of America�s most highly trained soldiers worked on a mercenary mission of murky legality to kill prominent clerics and Islamist political figures.

Their target that night: Anssaf Ali Mayo, the local leader of the Islamist political party Al-Islah. The UAE considers Al-Islah to be the Yemeni branch of the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE calls a terrorist organization. Many experts insist that Al-Islah, one of whose members won the Nobel Peace Prize, is no terror group. They say it's a legitimate political party that threatens the UAE not through violence but by speaking out against its ambitions in Yemen.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aramroston/mercenaries-assassination-us-yemen-uae-spear-golan-dahlan

Also Saudi and UAE are literally bombing each others proxies in Yemen. This is just some excerpts about what went down in Socotra.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200507-saudi-withdraws-its-troops-from-yemens-socotra/

quote:

May 7, 2020 at 3:36 pm
Saudi Arabia has abruptly withdrawn its forces from the Yemeni island of Socotra just two days after taking control of the local authority�s headquarters in the capital Hadibu, which had itself been under attack from UAE-backed militia aligned with the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).

Clashes had intensified in recent days, including reports of Saudi air strikes against military bases used by the STC. There were also reports of Saudi reinforcements arriving on the island to provide support to militias associated with the Islah Party who fight on behalf of the Saudi-based Yemeni government.

However, according to the Yemen Press Agency, Islah and STC militia have reached an agreement which prompted the Saudi forces to abandon their positions on the island.

STC reinforcements from the southern mainland provinces of Dhalea and Abyan are continuing to make their way to Socotra despite the uneasy truce between the factions. Local sources believe the Saudi withdrawal will leave Socotra residents to fight against the STC, who will likely succeed in consolidating more control over the island, adding further weight to claims by some observers that the UAE is seeking to annex the strategically located archipelago.

Last month the STC, based in the southern port city of Aden, declared autonomy from the UN-recognised Yemeni government, which was rejected by the government and southern provinces and has caused further tensions and divisions within the coalition led by Saudi against the Houthi-led government based in the capital Sanaa.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...t-idUSKBN23S0DU

quote:

Yemen separatists seize remote Socotra island from Saudi-backed government
By Mohammed Mukhashaf
JUNE 21, 2020

ADEN (Reuters) - Southern separatists have seized control of Yemen�s island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea, deposing its governor and driving out forces of the Saudi-backed government which condemned the action as coup.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared self rule in the south in April, complicating U.N. efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in a war that has separatists and the government fighting as nominal allies in a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi group, who control the north.

On Saturday, the STC announced it had seized government facilities and military bases on the main island of Socotra, a sparsely populated archipelago which sits at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden on one of the world�s busiest shipping lanes.

The government which is led by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi condemned the action as a �full-fledged� coup on the island and accused STC forces of attacking government buildings in �gang-style behaviour�.

Socotra governor Ramzi Mahroos accused coalition leaders Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of turning a blind eye. The UAE has previously backed STC forces with air strikes in fighting against the government in the south.

The coalition�s Saudi spokesman and the UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters� requests for comment.

Sources told Reuters last week that Saudi Arabia, which has tried to broker a deal between the STC and Hadi�s government, had presented a proposal to end the separatist stand-off, but the STC subsequently denied receiving it.

Riyadh wants to prevent another front developing in Yemen�s multifaceted war, which has been locked in military stalemate for years.

The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government for power in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system.

Socotra, a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its unique fauna and flora, is located in the shipping lane linking Asia to the Europe via the Red sea and Suez Canal.

# ? Sep 13, 2020 02:57

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

cool dance moves posted:

I also always assumed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were on the same page when it came to local proxies, so it's interesting to learn that they dont like each other at all. Is bin Zayed as much of an idiotic brute as MBS?

MBS is MBZ's purpose-raised idiot brute. He trained him to be easy to backstab.

# ? Sep 13, 2020 03:14

Zedhe Khoja: Nov 10, 2017; sürgünden selamlar
yıkıcılar ulusuna

mbs is raban?

# ? Sep 13, 2020 07:54

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

i've seen him wear lots of sunglasses but iunno which brand

# ? Sep 13, 2020 07:56

Dante80: Mar 23, 2015

steinrokkan posted:

That's both hilarious and gut wrenching.

E: I guess it's not hilarious at all, but I can't see geopolitics without toxic ironic detachment anymore. It just doesn't make any sense,

It's impossible to spell slaughter without laughter. And we are talking about the Middle East here.

# ? Sep 13, 2020 07:57

PawParole: Nov 16, 2019

no wonder they offered Soqotra to Somalia, they were going to lose it anyway.

# ? Sep 13, 2020 09:08

Al-Saqr: Nov 11, 2007; One Day I Will Return To Your Side.

MBZ is the biggest enemy of Arab human freedom and democracy, period, he was the main brain behind the Arab fascist movement to crush the Arab spring, him and Israel helped install Egypts Sisi and he�s the guy who helped MBS Achieve his current position in the Saudi Monarchy He is also the person Spoinsoring the Military in Sudan who are itching for a chance to remain in power over there indefinitely, he is the ultimate Evil and it�s very unsurprising that he found common cause with Israel because they are both in the business of Enslaving the Arab and Islamic World under Fascism forever. And thanks to him being Israels little dick sucker in the region he�s handed Iran a massive Propaganda Victory as the only truly independent Pro-Palestinian Force in the region. He is a cancer and a threat to all Arab human beings who value their humanity The sooner he dies the better the world will be.

# ? Sep 13, 2020 13:23

Maximo Roboto: Feb 4, 2012

Is Qatar involved in Yemen at all? They're involved in Libya. Just how did all these Gulf Arabs start pursuing rival proxy wars with the Saudis, anyway? Does Bahrain also sponsor groups?

# ? Sep 13, 2020 19:16

Maya Fey: Jan 22, 2017

https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1305145267575042049

# ? Sep 13, 2020 19:20

i say swears online: Mar 4, 2005

i'm interested in worker unrest and violence in the large underclasses of construction and domestic workers in the gulf states. is this subject underreported or are the state panopticons just that oppressive, or both?

# ? Sep 13, 2020 19:26